


Demons Within

by rainsonata



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Family Angst, Family Reunions, Gen, but what if it was with IS and CrA instead?, going off of the Velder cleared videos showing Elsword reuniting with Elesis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 21:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19281244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsonata/pseuds/rainsonata
Summary: The Dark El has more control over Crimson Avenger than she would like to admit.  She loses her self control when her brother and his friends find her near Velder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on July 12, 2015 on tumblr.

There was fire, no longer an abnormality ever since the demon invasion began near Velder.  If one ventured into the ruins, the heat only grew more intense, demanding, consuming whatever came across its path.  It was only an amount of time before the fire and the fiends that came with it would reach the city itself.  Didn’t matter.  The only thing that meant much to Elesis was that the demons were here and that they needed to be eliminated.  

At first, she fought the demons out of anger, out of spite.  After all, they killed her comrades. It was the proper way to punish them for their crimes.  At least that’s what she told herself.  Elesis did what she had to do to stay alive, enough to fulfill her wish of revenge.     

The Dark El never let her forget its presence. It was there in many forms; as dark thoughts haunting her at in every waking moment, as the nightmares that welcomed her in her sleep, as the overbearing weight on her heart when she stopped to breathe.  The only time the she forgot about its existence was when she slaughtered the many demons that inhibited Elrios, letting their blood flow through her fingers.  So she fought.  Anything to stop the pain, even if it was just for a moment.  A moment was enough.    

Elesis was already losing her breath when she caught up to the demons.  No matter how many she killed, there were still more beyond her reach.  How many times did she need to hack them to pieces before they give up?  Maybe her efforts were meaningless.  They were multiplying quicker than she could kill them, and yet she continued pursuing them.  If she didn’t, what was there left to do?  What else could she do?  

The smoke and flames clouded her vision, made it difficult for her to breathe.  Even with that in mind, she wanted to proceed further into the ruins before her.  She knew there were demons somewhere in there, hiding within the fallen buildings, taking advantage of the smoke to blend in.  If those fiends thought a mere fire was going to stop her from going after them, they were wrong.

She saw a mob of demons hurdling near the entrance of a building.  There were no human occupants in the building, long gone after being chased away by invaders.  The demons smashed the remnants of the building’s insides, sending pieces of wood and metal hurling in her direction.  Elesis avoided the shrapnel and glared at them.  They weren’t the ones who killed her comrades, but it was close enough.  Her tangled red hair flowed in the wind as she lept into the chaos, ignoring the debris flying around her.

She pulled out her blade and rotated towards them, hacking at them repeatedly with her weapon.  Her blade penetrated their thick skin, blood oozing from their pores because of the pressure of her attacks.  It used to disgust her, feeling her blade push against them before breaking through their tough skin.  Now she hardly flinched at the sight, enjoying the thrill of seeing their blood spilled.

The stinging sensation on her skin warned her that she was losing blood.  Years ago, she would have cried from the excessive amount she was losing.  Instead, the blood loss intensified her senses.  Her vision grew sharper, she could see more demons up ahead, deeper in the area.  

She killed those demons, but it wasn’t enough.  They were only low ranked demons.  There had to be more.  She needed to find more, kill more, hear their high pitch screeches fill the air before she was satisfied.  

Elesis’ heart raced when she dragged her blade and crushed the skull of a foolish demon who decided to attack her from behind.  She grabbed one of its friends by the neck and flung it across the field before going for its vital areas.  More demons ganged up on her, but the red haired knight took them all down, dancing between their attacks and using their strength against them,  

The smell of rotting flesh caught her attention when she proceeded deeper into the burning building, too caught up in the moment to consider how dangerous it was.  The only thing on her mind at the moment was to seek and kill.    

Her throat was dry when she screamed as she charged at them again.  Could it really be called a scream?  It was more like a hoarse gasp, too exhausted to go beyond a whisper.  The more she fought, the more tired she was, but also the more exhilarated she felt.  Everything was moving so quickly around her that she forgot that the building she was standing in was still burning.  

A small yelp escaped from her lips when the wall collapsed on her, too late for her to avoid it.  She used up too much of her energy attempting to pull herself out from underneath the fallen wall.  Elesis felt light headed and realized that she was bleeding again.  

She jolted when she heard someone giggle, so jarring and unsettling.  It was more of a soft eerie laugh, low and harsh to the ear.  Elesis then realized that she was the only human being in this area.  She was the one laughing.  The Crimson Avenger had one hand on her head, still laughing, unable to control herself.  It ached when she laughed, but she didn’t care.  So this was how it would end.  She would die alone fighting demons.  It was so predictable.  It was something she expected once she settled on the goal of defeating all demons, but still, she didn’t think the time would arrive so soon.  

Elesis looked up to see the sky turning red.  She hadn’t even slayed all of the demons in this area; it was the least she could do.  Would the demons go after her remains once she was dead?  What would happen to her body afterwards?  She was about to accept her fate, closing her eyes when she heard someone shouting.

The Crimson Avenger opened her eyes wide to see that a stray demon had found her.  It crawled towards her with a hungry look in its eye, seeing that she was vulnerable.  She once again tried to pull herself out from under the rubble, but found it difficult to do so.  By the time she had half of her body out, more demons had shown up.  Where did they come from?  Before Elesis could react, she saw a light flickering towards her.

The gleam of metal following the light made it too bright for Elesis to tell who it was.  A young man dressed in red and black darted in to beat the demon to the ground.  As the swordsman turned around to fight another enemy, Elesis saw that he had red spiky hair with a black streak on one side.  

He swung two swords with ease and knocked a couple of other demons away, careful to lead them away from her.  The skill he displayed was admirable, but that wasn’t what caught Elesis’ attention.   

His eyes held a familiar dull look, but he had a sharper expression than hers.  Could it be?  Did that person also absorb Dark El?  Elesis felt weak when she recognized another person under the Dark El’s influence.  What was he hoping to accomplish by saving her?  Or did he simply hold a similar agenda?  To eliminate the demons?  Or perhaps was he testing his strength to see what he was capable of.  

Elesis looked up in confusion when she saw another man standing in front of her.  With the help of what looked like a nasod arm, the man dragged her from the fallen wall.  When she tried to stand up, she gasped at the sudden pain rushing to her chest.  Her eyes grew wide, tears refusing to form despite the pain.  

The man with the nasod arm saw her struggling and carefully lifted her to carrying Elesis in his arms.  Elesis was gasping for air, realizing that the smoke had limited her breathing.  She choked on her saliva when she tried to even out her breathing, taking air too soon.    She should have thanked her rescuer, but she was still focused on the swordsman.  

He was shorter than what she recalled from earlier.  It was rare to meet a swordsman who had the skill to manage more than one weapon at a time.  He had already taken  care of the enemies when Elesis finally brought her breathing under control.  Elesis frowned when he approached them.  His face looked familiar.  He had red eyes.  Could it be…?   No…he wasn’t supposed to be here…   He was too young.      

Elesis wanted to throw up at the sudden revelation.  What was he doing here fighting demons?  The swordsman stared at her when he also recognized who she was.  She uttered his name before passing out.            

_Elsword?_


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Infinity Sword dreamed of meeting his sister again someday, but not like this. After years of trying to catch up to her, he ran into Crimson Avenger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on July 3, 2015 on tumblr.

Elsword grew up idolizing her.  She was strong, determined, willing to work with people to become a better knight to protect Elrios.  At the young age of sixteen, Elesis’ name was already well known through the continent.  Elsword continued to hear her name uttered by locals as he traveled.  He was frustrated by how her name was everywhere, and yet he hadn’t seen her face in so long.  When Elsword arrived in Besma, he was told that his sister had left a few days ago.  When he was in Altera, Elesis was already in Feita.  He was always too late to catch up to her.  Where was she?    

The sky was blazing red when he found his sister bleeding out in the burning ruins of Velder.  Elesis’ eyes were barely open when he checked her pulse, so weak from overexerting herself in battle.  The Crimson Avenger was covered in scars, both old and fresh, that made his heart stop when he looked at them.  

Some of her wounds had reopened.  Did she not stop herself when she was at her limits?  Or did she no longer know what limits were?  Elsword didn’t know what to say or do if it was the latter.  Something was off when he carried her back to safety; he couldn’t believe how light his sister was.  He later asked Raven, the Veteran Commander who said she was simply underweight, but why?

She was thin, almost frail looking.  Her red hair was always down, no longer a ponytail.  The clothes she wore made Elsword raise an eyebrow.  He didn’t remember her having this kind of clothing preference.  

Elesis woke up days later, barely acknowledging Elsword or anyone from the group when she was offered food and a place to rest.  Her dull red eyes gazed into the campfire when he went over to see her that afternoon.  It was probably rude, but he couldn’t stop staring at Elesis.  He had make sure that it was her.  After years of her evading him, it felt surreal to see her in the flesh.  

Her eyes were distant, never quite there.  It was like her thoughts were on other things.  The dull look in her eyes reflected Elsword’s worried countenance.  Could it be Dark El?  Not everyone took in Dark El the same way; Infinity Sword was lucky to retain much of his original personality.  Was she perhaps an unlucky one who changed for the worse from its influence?  His stomach clenched when he thought of the possibility.

Was this really the red knight the continent has been talking about lately?  Although…the further Elsword traveled through Elrios, the less her name was said.  The happy cheers of her name became quiet whispers, rumors.  No one seemed to know what her agenda was except that her appearance came with a sharp drop in the local demon population.  An angel?  A demon?  She was called many different things.  It varied by accounts, but they all called her the Crimson Avenger.  

Elesis was still staring into the campfire when Elsword joined her.  Did she talk?  No one ever heard her voice.  All questions were replied with a small nod or shaking her head.  It was difficult to know what was on her mind because of her apathetic facial expressions.  It was only when Elsword cleared his throat did he catch her attention.

“Hey, um, sis.”  Elsword said awkwardly.  What was he supposed to say to her after years of her disappearance?  How are you?  Where have you gone?  She was bleeding just days ago and still needed her wounds to be redressed every few hours.  Shit, he was so bad at this.  

She didn’t take note of the long pause or make any comments on how nervous he looked (or was that all in his mind?).  His palms were getting sweaty trying to conjure up words that wouldn’t come off as insensitive or inappropriate.  Elesis simply stared at him, giving him that same blank look, waiting for him to continue.  This made him uncomfortable.  

“It’s been forever, hasn’t it?” Elsword said with uncertainty, “It’s great seeing you again.  I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

That was a lie that he was sure Elesis could see through.  His sister wasn’t stupid.  It was clear from his hurt voice that it was painful to meet her like this.  Elsword was happy that he was able to meet her again, but this scenario wasn’t something he had in mind.  Elesis was supposed to be a strong older sister who laughed off injuries like it was nothing, not this empty shell of a person who had little say.  

 _Please look at me_ , he mentally pleaded.  Why wouldn’t she make eye contact?  She looked at his face, but took care to avoid looking at him in the eye.  What was she afraid of?  

“Why won’t you speak to me?” Elsword was growing frantic.  Did something happen to her without him knowing?  He saw her clutching the arm where one of the wounds were.  “What’s wrong?  Does it hurt?”  

But no answer.  She glanced down slowly, but remained silent.   

Perhaps she didn’t realize it was him because it had been years since she left?  Elsword lost track of how long it had been since they last were together.  After all, her memories of him were of when he was still a child, not even an adolescent yet.  Elesis was a teenager when she left Ruben and he almost didn’t recognize her at first glance.  She changed _so much_.      

“Elesis?” His voice cracked, “It’s me, Elsword.  You’re brother?  You recognize me, right?”   

Her eyes grew wide, as if she just noticed him.  Elesis had one finger on her lips, mouthing a few words that he couldn’t read in the dim light.  Her breaths were quick, quiet, almost inaudible over the crackling fire.  After considering a few things, she gave him a curt nod.  Yes, she knew who he was.  Elsword heard himself sigh in relief.  

Elesis clenched her teeth, snapping her eyes shut as if thinking of a cruel memory.  When she reopened her eyes, Elesis finally made eye contact.  Her eyes were cold, but Elsword recognized a single emotion in them: regret.  It was a feeling Elsword was not a stranger to, after surviving too many close calls, too many failures.        

She whispered, “I’m sorry.”

A moment passed as Elsword processed the words, eyes growing wide.  Her voice was lower than he remembered.  She lowered her head down when she apologized, ashamed of how much pain she had caused for him.  But Elsword didn’t care.  

She didn’t cry, but he did.  Elsword felt warm tears running down his face when he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight hug, not caring if anyone saw him crying out in the open.  Her body grew stiff at the sudden contact, but she relaxed her shoulders when she saw the tears.

Elesis didn’t complain when he rambled about what has happened to the Elgang and how much they have gone though.  She didn’t interrupt when Elsword happily told her that they were going to work towards a better future and that they would find a way to have better control over the Dark El’s influence on them.  A small smile slipped from her lips when he did much of the talking, enough to fill the silent void for two people.  

Elesis was back.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write focusing on CrA’s perspective on things before she was found by IS and his friends. It’s a prequel, but it’s also an accompanying fic to read alongside with Reunion.


End file.
